Introduction

Our first ISA Server book, Configuring ISA Server 2000, was written while we were still struggling to master a completely new piece of software, one that was very different in features, functionality, and complexity from its predecessor, Microsoft Proxy Server 2.0. We were working with beta releases during much of the writing, and then revising the material to address changes in the final release.

In the year and a half since that book came out, we've gotten to know ISA Server much more intimately. Through working with it on a daily basis on our network, assisting and supporting others in the "real world" and via ISA newsgroups, mailing lists, conferences, and the www.isaserver.org Web site, we've come to know its quirks, peculiarities, and limitations, and learned some tweaks and tricks that will make it work better.

We have also come to understand, even more than before, that ISA or any other firewall solution is only one part (albeit an important one) of a comprehensive network security plan. The importance of multilayer security becomes more evident every day, as hackers and attackers work industriously to find ways through the barriers we set up. No single product can provide full protection for your network's data and integrity, regardless of how good it is.

This book is the natural follow-up to the first. Although it can stand on its own for those who have some experience using ISA Server, we recommend that anyone new to the product read Configuring ISA Server 2000